ROME, Feb 8 (Reuters) - An eerie silence will hang over many Serie A grounds when the championship resumes this weekend.

A title race already described as damaged goods after the
punishments handed out to Juventus and AC Milan in last year's
match-fixing scandal now risks having the atmosphere sucked out
of it by the government's tough measures approved on Wednesday.

Under the anti-hooligan measures, introduced in response to
the death of a policeman in rioting at a Serie A match between
Catania and Palermo last week, spectators will not be allowed
into stadiums that do not conform with security regulations.

In Serie A only four stadiums - Rome's Olympic, Palermo's
Barbera, Turin's Olympic, and the Artemio Franchi in Siena -
are in line with the regulations.

The rest, including Milan's San Siro and Florence's Franchi
stadium, require varying degrees of work to come up to scratch.

Leaders Inter Milan, for example, will resume their title
bid versus Chievo Verona against the deserted backdrop of the
Bentegodi - one of the grounds most in need of modernisation.

AC Milan striker Ronaldo, signed from Real Madrid for €7.5
million last month, is expected to make
his Serie A return against Livorno in an empty San Siro.

Several players have opposed the idea of playing without
fans including Milan captain Paolo Maldini who called it 'the
death of football'.

His team mate Cristian Brocchi recalled the experience of
playing in an empty stadium for Fiorentina last season.

'We need to be tough on violence at the moment, but I'm
against playing behind closed doors,' said the midfielder.

'It was really awful. It's difficult to find the words to
describe it. From the time I was young I dreamed about playing
at a packed stadium. To play with no-one there just leaves you
cold.'

Last weekend's scheduled match between Inter and AS Roma,
who lie 11 points behind in second, was billed as Roma's last
chance to derail the leaders' apparently unstoppable progress
towards the scudetto.

That game, which was suspended along with the rest of the
weekend's Serie A programme, will now be played at a date yet to
be confirmed.

Roma face a home match against relegation-threatened Parma
at Rome's Olympic Stadium - one of the few Italian stadiums to
meet the security regulations.